All those people who cheated via Ashley Madison have now been exposed

Email addresses, credit card details and sexual fantasies have all been published

Hackers have published the personal data of 37 million users of affair dating website Ashley Madison on the darkweb.

A hacking group calling themselves the Impact Team appear to have carried out their threat to release stolen information about people signed up to the site, whose tagline is "Life is short. Have an affair."

Last night, the Impact Team dumped 9.7gb of data on the dark web (basically the underground of the internet, only accessible using a private Tor browser) including sexual fantasies, email addresses, postal addresses, partial credit card details and transaction records.

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Email addresses released include 150 UK government addresses, reports the Telegraph. But, according to the Independent, you don't need to verify your email address in order to sign up, meaning that someone else could enter your email address without your knowledge.

Last month, hackers breached the website and threatened to release customer information if owners Avid Life Media didn't take down both Ashley Madison and sister site EstablishedMen.com, a site promising to connect wealthy "established men" with "young, beautiful women".

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The Guardian has confirmed that the email address of a Guardian journalist who joined the site as part of an investigation is among the data released, appearing to confirm that the details released are genuinely those stolen from Ashley Madison.

"Avid Life Media has failed to take down Ashley Madison and Established Men. We have explained the fraud, deceit, and stupidity of ALM and their members. Now everyone gets to see their data.

"Find someone you know on here? Keep in mind the site is a scam with thousands of fake female profiles. See ashley madison fake profile lawsuit; 90-95% of actual users are male. Chances are your man signed up on the world's biggest affair site, but never had one. He just tried to. If that distinction matters.

"Find yourself in here? It was ALM that failed you and lied to you. Prosecute them and claim damages. Then move on with your life. Learn your lesson and make amends. Embarrassing now, but you'll get over it."

Avid Life media have confirmed that the FBI are investigating the incident.

The media company said in a statement:

"We will continue to put forth substantial efforts into removing any information unlawfully released to the public, as well as continuing to operate our business.

"This event is not an act of hacktivism, it is an act of criminality. It is an illegal action against the individual members of AshleyMadison.com, as well as any freethinking people who choose to engage in fully lawful online activities.

"The criminal, or criminals, involved in this act have appointed themselves as the moral judge, juror, and executioner, seeing fit to impose a personal notion of virtue on all of society.

"We will not sit idly by and allow these thieves to force their personal ideology on citizens around the world. We are continuing to fully co-operate with law enforcement to seek to hold the guilty parties accountable to the strictest measures of the law."

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